


Kiss and Tell

by authornotes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1940s, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:09:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27322513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/authornotes/pseuds/authornotes
Summary: “What is that, Professor?”“Something that is beyond either of our help,” Dumbledore says.Harry looks at the naked bundle, hideous and whimpering softly. He wonders if Dumbledore had ever looked at Harry like that in eleven years that he was responsible for him. Did he look at the Dursley's' abuse, listen to Harry’s complaints and think ‘You cannot help.’Grim determination fills Harry to his core. ‘Not again,' Harry thinks, picking up the naked bundle under the bench. “Not another person will be abandoned.”Everything goes white.Harry wakes up.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Tom Riddle, Harry Potter & Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort
Comments: 9
Kudos: 116





	Kiss and Tell

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers in the end of chapter notes. Chapter ONE is a re-write of the original HP & Deathly Hallows. This chapter is the set up for 1940s time travel. Speech in is quoted from HP & Deathly Hallows.
> 
> I do not own Harry Potter, HP & Deathly Hallows and am not J.K. Rowling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the purpose of setting up the story the first chapter has a few direct quotes. These will be italicized.  
> Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

" _He lay in a bright mist, though it was not like mist he had ever experienced before. His surroundings were not hidden by cloudy vapour; rather the cloudy vapour had not yet formed into surroundings. The floor on which he lay seemed to be white, neither warm nor cold, but simply there, a flat, blank something on which to be._ " _\- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book 7_

_CHAPTER ONE: LIMBO_

Harry stands slowly taking in his surroundings. A hand to his face tells him that he doesn’t have his glasses yet his vision is pristine. A cursory glance at his arms tells him that he’s naked. Yet this doesn’t cause the panic it should. Instead Harry feels calm. Calmer that he ever has before. He wonders if this is death.

Looking at the mist, he watches unfeeling as it slowly gains form. Benches appear, plumes of cloudy vapor become walls and a high ceiling begins to materialize.

Harry takes a few steps forward toward the benches. Robes begin taking shape on his lithe form with each step. There is something there, hidden under one of the seats. He hears a muffled whimper and the object squirms. ‘This can’t be right’ Harry thinks.

It is a baby or at least has the appearance of one. It is not as robust as a newborn nor deformed like the homunculus Harry witnessed during his fourth year. The being, child, is something in between. Harry feels pity. He wonders if it is in pain.

_“You cannot help.”_

Harry’s gaze is torn from the child toward the familiar voice. Dumbledore.

 _“Harry.”_ He spreads his arms wide. His body is undamaged and whole. _“You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk.”_

Harry doesn’t move. “I don’t understand. No.” He briefly looks back at the child before settling his gaze on Dumbledore. “Are you dead?”

Dumbledore smiles. _“Oh yes.”_

_“Then...I’m dead too?”_

_“Ah,”_ Dumbledore's grin widens. _“This is the question, isn’t it? On the whole, dear boy, I think not.”_

 _“Not?”_ Harry feels fleeting rage. Even in death, Dumbledore is as omnipresent and evasive as always.

Dumbledore makes a noise of agreeance. “I would gather that in this particular instant you are very much neither dead nor alive.”

“I don’t understand.” He frowns. “I sacrificed myself.”

“And that, my dear boy,” Dumbledore says. “Is what made all the difference.”

Harry glances at the small child. “And the Horcrux?”

“Gone.”

He should feel pleased or relieved. Voldemort’s downfall is one step closer. All he feels is numb.

“Then I can go back.”

“If you chose,” Dumbedore replies. “Harry.”

“Please explain, sir.”

-

Harry listens carefully as Dumbledore weaves a fantastical tale brimming with horror, mystery and magic:

Of blood shared, blood unwilling given and bloodshed.

A bad start, a worst middle and a terrible end.

Brothers three, Death and a centuries old search for three magical objects.

Of immortality, love potions, and men blinded by their ambitions.

His eyes never stray far from the bench during the entire speech. Not for the first time, Harry feels pity for Tom Riddle. What would he have been like had the circumstances of his life not been so dire. Had he not delved into the darkest of magic and tore his soul into pieces. 

_“He took my blood.”_ Harry wonders if Dumbledore knew this would happen. Had he speculated that Harry would live? Did he think that Harry’s sacrifice would be his last?

“ _He tethered you to life while he lives,_ Harry.”

“Sir,” Harry says. “Did you know this would happen?”

“I had suspected.” Dumbledore's smile fades. “I made an educated guess. And I must say my guesses are often correct.”

“So I could go back,” he asks. “Finish Voldemort.”

"If that is what you chose, my boy."

Harry hates that name. They stand in silence. Seconds pass. A muffled cry brings Harry’s attention back to the baby under the bench.

_“What is that, Professor?”_

_“Something that is beyond either of our help,”_ Dumbledore says.

Harry looks at the naked bundle, hideous and whimpering softly. He wonders if Dumbledore had ever looked at Harry like that in eleven years that he was responsible for him. Did he look at the Dursleys' abuse, listen to Harry’s complaints and think ‘You cannot help.’

Grim determination fills Harry to his core. ‘Not again,' Harry thinks, picking up the naked bundle under the bench. “Not another person will be abandoned.”

Everything goes white.

Harry wakes up.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> Harry decides that he doesn't want to go back and kill Voldemort.


End file.
